Willie "The Lion" Smith

Trackimage Playbut Trackname Playbut Trackname
Summertime 00:00 Tools
Finger Buster 00:00 Tools
Am I Blue? 00:00 Tools
Echoes of Spring 02:37 Tools
Harlem Joys 00:00 Tools
Passionette 00:00 Tools
Pork And Beans 00:00 Tools
Summertime - Instrumental 00:00 Tools
Relaxin' 00:00 Tools
Swing, Brother, Swing 00:00 Tools
Echoes Of Spring (Live) 00:00 Tools
Morning Air 00:00 Tools
Rippling Waters 00:00 Tools
Solitude 00:00 Tools
Pretty Baby 00:00 Tools
Contrary Motion 00:00 Tools
Concentratin' 00:00 Tools
Swing Brother Swing 00:00 Tools
In A Minor Groove 00:00 Tools
Music On My Mind 00:00 Tools
Steeplechase 00:00 Tools
Echo Of Spring 00:00 Tools
More Than That 00:00 Tools
Honeysuckle Rose 00:00 Tools
Cuttin' Out 00:00 Tools
Moonlight Cocktail 00:00 Tools
Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea 00:00 Tools
I'm All Out of Breath 00:00 Tools
Ain't She Sweet 02:54 Tools
Shine 00:00 Tools
H&M Blues 00:00 Tools
All Out Of Breath 00:00 Tools
Ain't Misbehavin' 00:00 Tools
Tea for Two 00:00 Tools
Some Of These Days 00:00 Tools
Moten Swing 00:00 Tools
There's Gonna Be the Devil to Pay 00:00 Tools
Stormy Weather 00:00 Tools
Sparklets 00:00 Tools
The Old Stamping Ground 00:00 Tools
Polonaise 00:00 Tools
Smoke Gets In Your Eyes 00:00 Tools
Blues, Why Don't You Leave Me Alone? 00:00 Tools
Willie Weep for Me 00:00 Tools
Achin' Hearted Blues 00:00 Tools
Dinah 00:00 Tools
Sharps And Flat 00:00 Tools
I'll Follow You 00:00 Tools
Breeze (Blow My Baby Back To Me) 00:00 Tools
All Of Me 00:00 Tools
Am I Blue 00:00 Tools
The Stuff Is Here 00:00 Tools
Sneakaway 00:00 Tools
Dardanella 00:00 Tools
Way You Look Tonight 00:00 Tools
Fading Star 00:00 Tools
Get Acquainted With Yourself 00:00 Tools
Honeymoonin' On A Dime 00:00 Tools
Tango La Caprice 00:00 Tools
Concentrating 00:00 Tools
Sittin' At The Table (Opposie You) - Diff. Unissued Take 00:00 Tools
Junk Man Rag 00:00 Tools
Sophisticated Lady 00:00 Tools
The Lion And The Lamb 00:00 Tools
12th Street Rag 00:00 Tools
Here Comes The Band 00:00 Tools
The Swampland (Is Calling Me) 00:00 Tools
Carolina Shout 00:00 Tools
The Man I Love 00:00 Tools
Memories of You 00:00 Tools
Santa Claus Blues 00:00 Tools
Streamline Gal 00:00 Tools
Peace Brother Peace 00:00 Tools
Alexander's Ragtime Band 00:00 Tools
Charleston 00:00 Tools
Squeeze Me 00:00 Tools
Portrait of the Duke 00:00 Tools
Rippling Water 00:00 Tools
Nagasaki 00:00 Tools
I Can See You All Over the Place 00:00 Tools
Moonlight Cocktail - Edit Version 00:00 Tools
The Boy in the Boat 00:00 Tools
What Can I Do With A Foolish Little Girl Like You? 00:00 Tools
Louisiana 00:00 Tools
Knock Wood 00:00 Tools
Keep Your Temper 00:00 Tools
The Swampland Is Calling Me 00:00 Tools
La Madelon 00:00 Tools
Love Will Find a Way 00:00 Tools
Woodland Fantasy 00:00 Tools
Three Keyboards 00:00 Tools
I've Got to Think It Over 00:00 Tools
Late Hours 00:00 Tools
Bugle Call Rag 00:00 Tools
Finger Buster - Original 00:00 Tools
I'm Just Wild About Harry 00:00 Tools
The Lion Roars 00:00 Tools
Ain't She Sweet? 00:00 Tools
What Is There To Say 00:00 Tools
Let's Mop It 00:00 Tools
Zig Zag 00:00 Tools
I'm Gonna Ride The Rest Of The Way 00:00 Tools
Spanish Venus 00:00 Tools
Rock, Jenny, Rock (05-23-27) 00:00 Tools
Santa Claus Blues (11-05-25) 00:00 Tools
Darktown Strutters Ball 00:00 Tools
Home Cooking Mama With The Fryin' Pan (07-22-38) 00:00 Tools
Egyptian-Ella 00:00 Tools
Echo Of Spring - Diff. Take 00:00 Tools
Get Together Blues 00:00 Tools
Muskrat Ramble 00:00 Tools
Fingerbuster 00:00 Tools
Zig-Zag 00:00 Tools
Willie's Blues 00:00 Tools
Jazz Me Blues 00:00 Tools
I'm Coming Virginia 00:00 Tools
What Is There to Say? 00:00 Tools
Finger Buster (05-14-34) 00:00 Tools
Daintiness - The Lion's Theme (Echoes of Spring) 00:00 Tools
Relaxing 00:00 Tools
the dipsy doodle 00:00 Tools
Sittin' at the Table (Opposite You) 00:00 Tools
Can You Hear Me 00:00 Tools
Hallelujah 00:00 Tools
Josephine 00:00 Tools
Keep Your Temper (11-05-25) 00:00 Tools
On the Sunny Side of the Street Take, Pt. 1 00:00 Tools
Porter's Love Song 00:00 Tools
The Campbells Are Swinging 00:00 Tools
There's Gonna Be The Devil To Pay (04-23-35) 00:00 Tools
The Big Dipper 00:00 Tools
The Dipsy Doodle (11-11-37) 00:00 Tools
Echo Of Spring (05-22-35) 00:00 Tools
Trains and Planes 00:00 Tools
The Lion's Theme (Echoes Of Spring) - Charleston 00:00 Tools
What Can I Do With A Foolish Little Girl Like You? (04-23-35) 00:00 Tools
What Can I Do With A Foolish Little Girl Like You 00:00 Tools
Blue Skies 00:00 Tools
Conversation On Park Avenue 00:00 Tools
Copenhagen 00:00 Tools
Rock Jenny Rock 00:00 Tools
You're The Limit 00:00 Tools
Basin Street Blues 00:00 Tools
The Mule Walk 00:00 Tools
The Toy Trumpet 00:00 Tools
Echoes Of Spring - Live 00:00 Tools
Fats Waller Medley 00:00 Tools
Darktown strutter's ball 00:00 Tools
Sissy 00:00 Tools
Jumpin' Down Blues 00:00 Tools
I'll Follow You (01-10-39) 00:00 Tools
The Flat Foot Floogee 00:00 Tools
It's Right Here for You 00:00 Tools
Limehouse Blues 00:00 Tools
Madelon 00:00 Tools
Tango a la Caprice 00:00 Tools
Lost In The Shuffle 00:00 Tools
The Old Stomping Ground 00:00 Tools
Pop Corn Man 00:00 Tools
Looney Little Tooney 00:00 Tools
How Could You Put Me Down 00:00 Tools
It’s Right Here For You (05-23-27) 00:00 Tools
The Swampland Is Calling Me (04-13-37) 00:00 Tools
Breeze (Blow My Baby Back To Me) (05-22-35) 00:00 Tools
Just One Of Those Things 00:00 Tools
The Panic is On 00:00 Tools
The Spider And The Fly 00:00 Tools
That's A Plenty 00:00 Tools
I Got Rhythm 00:00 Tools
Royal Garden Blues 00:00 Tools
Swinging With Bishop 00:00 Tools
The Sneakaway (Piano Solo) 00:00 Tools
I Can't Give You Anything But Love 00:00 Tools
I Can See You All Over The Place (04-13-37) 00:00 Tools
Echoes Of Spring (01-10-39) 00:00 Tools
Darktown Strutters' Ball 00:00 Tools
Rainy Day Blues 00:00 Tools
Keeping Out Of Mischief Now 00:00 Tools
Harlem Joys (04-23-35) 00:00 Tools
Steeplechase - Instrumental 00:00 Tools
Swing, Brother, Swing (05-22-35) 00:00 Tools
La De Doody Do 00:00 Tools
Home Cooking Mama With The Fryin' Pan 00:00 Tools
Shoot The Likker To Me, John Boy 00:00 Tools
Streamline Gal (04-23-35) 00:00 Tools
In A Minor Groove - Instrumental 00:00 Tools
H And M Blues - Instrumental 00:00 Tools
The Romp 00:00 Tools
What Can I Do With A Foolish Little Girl Like You? - Diff. Take 00:00 Tools
Old Fashioned Love 00:00 Tools
Three Blind Mice (See How They Swing) 00:00 Tools
Ain't She Sweet - Instrumental 00:00 Tools
The Stuff Is Here - Instrumental 00:00 Tools
Tea for Two (master take) 00:00 Tools
Careless Love 00:00 Tools
Shine - Instrumental 00:00 Tools
Sittin' At The Table (Opposite You) (05-22-35) 00:00 Tools
Sweet Georgia Brown 00:00 Tools
Poor Butterfly 00:00 Tools
Peace, Brother, Peace 00:00 Tools
If I Could Be with You 00:00 Tools
Bring on the Band 00:00 Tools
What Can I Do With a Foolish Girl Like You? 00:00 Tools
Jump Jump's Here 00:00 Tools
Old Man River 00:00 Tools
I'm All Out Of Breath (04-13-37) 00:00 Tools
Blues, Why Don't You Let Me Alone 00:00 Tools
Tea For Two (01-10-39) 00:00 Tools
Beale Street Blues 00:00 Tools
Rock And Roll And Weep 00:00 Tools
Rock, Jenny, Rock 00:00 Tools
Peace On You 00:00 Tools
On the Sunny Side of the Street Take, Pt. 2 00:00 Tools
Echoes Of Spring - Original 00:00 Tools
Get Acquainted With Yourself (07-14-37) 00:00 Tools
Some Of These Days - Instrumental 00:00 Tools
The Lion And The Lamb (11-30-38) 00:00 Tools
Not so Bop Blues (master take) 00:00 Tools
Sharps And Flat - Instrumental 00:00 Tools
Sparklets - Instrumental 00:00 Tools
More Than That (04-13-37) 00:00 Tools
Achin' Hearted Blues (09-15-37) 00:00 Tools
The Same Thing 00:00 Tools
St. Louis Blues 00:00 Tools
Baby Won't You Please Come Home 00:00 Tools
I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate 00:00 Tools
Passionnette 00:00 Tools
Passionette (01-10-39) 00:00 Tools
Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea (Harold Arlen-Ted Koehler) (from musical "Rhythmania") (1931) 00:00 Tools
Three Keyboards (11-30-38) 00:00 Tools
Polonaise - Instrumental 00:00 Tools
Breeze (Blow My Baby Back To Me) - Diff. Unissued Take 00:00 Tools
Tea for Two (alternative take) 00:00 Tools
Not so Bop Blues (alternative take) 00:00 Tools
Blues, Why Don't You Let Me Alone (09-15-37) 00:00 Tools
Breeze 00:00 Tools
Blame It on the Blues 00:00 Tools
Breeze (Blow My Baby Back To Me) (diff. Unissued Take) 00:00 Tools
Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen (Menas That You're Grand) 00:00 Tools
Sweet Sue, Just You 00:00 Tools
I Got A New Thing 00:00 Tools
Moonlight Cocktail (Edit Version) 00:00 Tools
Echo of Spring - Diff. Unissued Take 00:00 Tools
Careless Love - Original 00:00 Tools
I've Got To Think It Over (09-15-37) 00:00 Tools
Knock Wood (07-14-37) 00:00 Tools
Rockin' in Rhythm 00:00 Tools
Hoity Toiti 00:00 Tools
Ain't Misbehavin 00:00 Tools
Sneakaway (01-10-39) 00:00 Tools
Darktown Strutter's Ball (Take 1) 00:00 Tools
Swing, Brother, Swing - Diff. Unissued Take 00:00 Tools
Rushin' 00:00 Tools
Contrary Motion (Live) 00:00 Tools
Noodlin' 00:00 Tools
Honeysuckle Rose - Instrumental 00:00 Tools
Apologies 00:00 Tools
Peace, Brother, Peace (07-14-37) 00:00 Tools
When It's Sleepy Time Down South 00:00 Tools
Strange Fruit 00:00 Tools
Stormy Weather (01-10-39) 00:00 Tools
Souvenirs Léonins 00:00 Tools
Sweet Sue 00:00 Tools
Medley: Just One Of Those Things, Tea For Two, Some Of These Days, After You've Gone 00:00 Tools
Can You Hear Me (01-29-50) 00:00 Tools
Somebody Stole My Gal 00:00 Tools
Caroline Shout 00:00 Tools
Fingerbustin' 00:00 Tools
Contrary Motion (12-01-49) 00:00 Tools
I've Found A New Baby 00:00 Tools
Falling Stars 00:00 Tools
Sweetie Dear 00:00 Tools
The Big Dipper (01-07-38) 00:00 Tools
Theme Song 00:00 Tools
Tea for Two - alternate take - 00:00 Tools
Fading Star (01-10-39) 00:00 Tools
The Boy in the Boat (Squeeze Me) 00:00 Tools
Egyptian-Ella (05-17-38) 00:00 Tools
The Lion Steps Out 00:00 Tools
Doggin' The Dog 00:00 Tools
The Old Stomping-Ground (07-14-37) 00:00 Tools
Passionette (01-10-38) 00:00 Tools
Swingin' Down the Lane 00:00 Tools
S-H-I-N-E 00:00 Tools
12th Street Rag (Live) 00:00 Tools
Echoes Of Spring (12-01-49) 00:00 Tools
Fussin' 00:00 Tools
Mises au point léonines Sur You're the Limit 00:00 Tools
Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen (Means That You're Grand) (01-07-38) 00:00 Tools
Caprice Rag 00:00 Tools
I found a new baby 00:00 Tools
Oh You Devil 00:00 Tools
At Sundown 00:00 Tools
Dinah - Instrumental 00:00 Tools
The stuff is there 00:00 Tools
Morning Air (01-10-39) 00:00 Tools
Sendin' The Vipers 00:00 Tools
Bugle Call Rag (Live) 00:00 Tools
Considérations Léonines 00:00 Tools
Charmaine 00:00 Tools
Lady Be Good 00:00 Tools
Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea (01-10-39) 00:00 Tools
Love Remembers 00:00 Tools
falling star 00:00 Tools
Concentrating (01-10-39) 00:00 Tools
Passionate 00:00 Tools
The Old Stomping-Ground 00:00 Tools
Ida, Sweet As Apple Cider 00:00 Tools
Jumpin Down Blues 00:00 Tools
Pretty Baby (01-29-50) 00:00 Tools
Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea(Harold Arlen-Ted Koehler) (from musical "Rhythmania") (1931) 00:00 Tools
Woodland Fantasy (Live) 00:00 Tools
Conversation On Park Avenue (01-29-50) 00:00 Tools
Spanish Venue 00:00 Tools
Finger Buster (01-10-39) 00:00 Tools
Wontcha Do It To Me 00:00 Tools
That's A Plenty (11-11-37) 00:00 Tools
Roll 'Em, Rock 'Em And Weep 00:00 Tools
Who's Sorry Now? 00:00 Tools
What Can I Do with a Foolish Little Girl Like You? (diff. take) 00:00 Tools
Swing, Brother, Swing (diff. unissued take) 00:00 Tools
Darktown Strutter's Ball [Take 1] 00:00 Tools
Medley Keepin' out of Mischief Now / Charleston 00:00 Tools
Echoes Of Spring (12- ?-50) 00:00 Tools
Contrary Motions 00:00 Tools
Passionette (Willie "The Lion" Smith) 00:00 Tools
Black and Blue 00:00 Tools
Rushin' (02-17-40) 00:00 Tools
Lion's Boogie Woogie 00:00 Tools
Squeeze Me ("The Boy in the Boat" [Willie "The Lion" Smith]) (Thomas "Fats" Waller-Clarence Williams) (1919, ©1925) 00:00 Tools
Honeymoonin' On A Dime (09-15-37) 00:00 Tools
Spanish Venues 00:00 Tools
I Can't Give You Anything But Love (12- ?-50) 00:00 Tools
Pop Corn Man (03-17-39) 00:00 Tools
Willie 00:00 Tools
Rippling Waters (12- ?-50) 00:00 Tools
Studio Conversation 00:00 Tools
twelth street rag 00:00 Tools
What Is There to Say? (Vernon Duke-E Y Harburg) (from musical "Ziegfield Follies of 1934" 1934) 00:00 Tools
Streamline Girl 00:00 Tools
The Boy In The Boat (12- ?-50) 00:00 Tools
Zig-zag (Live) 00:00 Tools
Ballin' The Jack 00:00 Tools
I'll Follow You (12- ?-50) 00:00 Tools
Rippling Waters (01-10-39) 00:00 Tools
Maple Leaf Rag 00:00 Tools
Let's Mop It (Live) 00:00 Tools
Muskrat Ramble (Live) 00:00 Tools
Morning Air (Willie "The Lion" Smith) 00:00 Tools
Relaxin' (Willie's Theme) 00:00 Tools
Finger Buster (Willie "The Lion" Smith) (1934) 00:00 Tools
Rushin 00:00 Tools
Doggin' the Dog (Big Joe Turner, Williams) 00:00 Tools
Lost In The Shuffle (02-11-38) 00:00 Tools
Morning Air (01-10-38) 00:00 Tools
Egyptian Ella - Original 00:00 Tools
Rainy Day Blues (Big Joe Turner, Williams) 00:00 Tools
Relaxin 00:00 Tools
Memphis Blues 00:00 Tools
Ragtime Medley 00:00 Tools
Careless Love (W C Handy, Spencer Williams) (1925) 00:00 Tools
Trains And Planes (01-29-50) 00:00 Tools
Ol' Man River 00:00 Tools
Fingerbuster (12- ?-50) 00:00 Tools
La Marseillaise 00:00 Tools
Fading Star - Original 00:00 Tools
sister kate 00:00 Tools
The Boy In The Boat (01-10-39) 00:00 Tools
What Can I Do With A Foolish Little Girl Like You - (diff. take) 00:00 Tools
I ll Follow You 00:00 Tools
Saint Louis Blues 00:00 Tools
Rainy Day Blues (11-26-40) 00:00 Tools
What Is There To Say? (01-10-39) 00:00 Tools
Get Together Blues (Live) 00:00 Tools
Stormy Weather (Live) 00:00 Tools
Ain't the sweet 00:00 Tools
Darktown Strutter's Ball Take 2 00:00 Tools
The Way She Loves A Man 00:00 Tools
Sweet Sue - Part 1 (01-29-50) 00:00 Tools
I'll Follow You (Fred E Ahlert-Roy Turk) (1932) 00:00 Tools
You Took Advantage Of Me 00:00 Tools
Tea for Two (Vincent Youmans-Irving Caesar) (1924) (from "No, No, Nanette" 1925) 00:00 Tools
Jumpin' Down Blues (11-26-40) 00:00 Tools
Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea (12- ?-50) 00:00 Tools
Echoes of Spring (Willie "The Lion" Smith) 00:00 Tools
Background Music For A Coctail Party 00:00 Tools
Porterait of the Duke 00:00 Tools
Noodlin 00:00 Tools
Mutiny in the Parlour 00:00 Tools
Doggin' The Dog - Original 00:00 Tools
Egyptian-Ella - Original 00:00 Tools
Relaxing (12-01-49) 00:00 Tools
If I Could Be with You One Our to Night 00:00 Tools
Swing, Brother, Swing - (diff. unissued take) 00:00 Tools
Echoes Of Spring - (diff. take) 00:00 Tools
Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen (Means that you're grand) 00:00 Tools
Little Jam Before to Leave 00:00 Tools
Tea For Two (12- ?-50) 00:00 Tools
Stormy Weather (Harold Arlen-Ted Koehler) (from "Cotton Club Parade of 1933") 00:00 Tools
Fading Star (12- ?-50) 00:00 Tools
Echoes of Spring (Piano Solo) 00:00 Tools
Darktown Strutter's Ball (Live) 00:00 Tools
Ain't Misbehavin' (Live) 00:00 Tools
Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea (Harold Arlen-Ted Koehler) (From Musical "Rhythmania") (193 00:00 Tools
Sneakway (12- ?-50) 00:00 Tools
The Way You Look Tonight 00:00 Tools
Sweet Sue - Part 2 (01-29-50) 00:00 Tools
Carolina Shout (Live) 00:00 Tools
Late Hours (Live) 00:00 Tools
Dardanella (Live) 00:00 Tools
Here Comes the Band (Live) 00:00 Tools
Cuttin' Out (Live) 00:00 Tools
How Could You Put Me down (Live) 00:00 Tools
Breeze (Blow My Baby Back To Me) - (diff. unissued take) 00:00 Tools
Sittin' At The Table (Opposite You) - (diff. unissued take) 00:00 Tools
Copenhagen (04-07-38) 00:00 Tools
Sugar 00:00 Tools
Portrait of the Duke (Live) 00:00 Tools
Concentrating (Willie "The Lion" Smith) 00:00 Tools
Sneakaway (Willie "The Lion" Smith) 00:00 Tools
Rippling Waters (Willie "The Lion" Smith) 00:00 Tools
Stop It Joe (08-15-53) 00:00 Tools
Just You, Just Me 00:00 Tools
Echoes Of Spring - (diff. unissued take) 00:00 Tools
Peace on You (Singer) 00:00 Tools
Carolina Shout (08-15-53) 00:00 Tools
Tell Me Mama 00:00 Tools
If I Could Be With You One Hour Tonight 00:00 Tools
Echos of Spring 00:00 Tools
Noodlin' (02-17-40) 00:00 Tools
Believe Me 00:00 Tools
Ida, Sweet As Cider 00:00 Tools
Darktown Strutter's Ball (12-24-49) 00:00 Tools
Echo Of Spring (Diff. Take) 00:00 Tools
Echo Of Spring (Diff. Unissued Take) 00:00 Tools
The Dipsy Doodle - Original 00:00 Tools
Chevy Chase 00:00 Tools
Studio Introductory Conversation 00:00 Tools
Keepin' Out Of Mischief Now 00:00 Tools
Here Comes The Band (12-01-49) 00:00 Tools
Tell Me More 00:00 Tools
Sweet Georgia Brown, Pt. 1 00:00 Tools
st louis blues 00:00 Tools
baby wont you please come home 00:00 Tools
Sweet Georgia Brown, Pt. 2 00:00 Tools
Concentrating (12- ?-50) 00:00 Tools
Careless Love (11-26-40) 00:00 Tools
Relaxing (Live) 00:00 Tools
There's Gonna Be The Devil To Pay - Original 00:00 Tools
Wontcha Do It For Me 00:00 Tools
Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea (Piano Solo) 00:00 Tools
I'm Gonna Ride the Rest of the Way (Live) 00:00 Tools
Madelson (12- ?-50) 00:00 Tools
Charleston (Live) 00:00 Tools
Echoes of Spring (diff. take) 00:00 Tools
Peace On You (02-17-40) 00:00 Tools
Polonaise (Piano Solo) 00:00 Tools
Fading Star (Willie "The Lion" Smith) 00:00 Tools
Wontcha Do It To Me (02-17-40) 00:00 Tools
The Flat Foot Floogee (04-28-38) 00:00 Tools
Looney Little Tooney (04-28-38) 00:00 Tools
Josephine (02-11-38) 00:00 Tools
Breeze (Blow My Baby Back To Me) - Original 00:00 Tools
Baby Don't Say That No More - Live 00:00 Tools
Daintness (08- ?-53) 00:00 Tools
Rushin' (Willie "The Lion" Smith) 00:00 Tools
Wontcha Do It for Me? ("Wontcha Do It to Me?") (Canville) 00:00 Tools
Concentrating - Original 00:00 Tools
Jumpin' Down Blues (Big Joe Turner, Williams) 00:00 Tools
The Lion Steps Out (08-15-53) 00:00 Tools
Perdido 00:00 Tools
Echoes of Spring - Version 1 00:00 Tools
Tillie's Twist 00:00 Tools
Baby, Won't You Please Come Home 00:00 Tools
La Madelon (12-24-49) 00:00 Tools
Copenhagen - Original 00:00 Tools
You're Driving Me Crazy 00:00 Tools
12th Street Rag (12-01-49) 00:00 Tools
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William Henry Joseph Bonaparte Bertholoff Smith (23 November 1893 – 18 April 1973), a.k.a. "The Lion", was an American jazz pianist and one of the masters of the stride style, usually grouped with James P. Johnson and Thomas "Fats" Waller as the three greatest practitioners of the genre from its Golden Age, c. 1920–1943. William Henry Joseph Bonaparte Bertholoff Smith was born in Goshen, New York. His mother and grandmother chose the names to reflect the different parts of his heritage: Joseph after Saint Joseph (Bible), Bonaparte (French), Bertholoff (biological father's last name), Smith (added when he was three, his stepfather's name), and William and Henry which were added for "spiritual balance". In his memoir he reports that his father, Frank Bertholoff, was Jewish. Willie was at least somewhat conversant in Yiddish, as he demonstrated in a television interview late in his life. Willie's mother, Ida Oliver, had "Spanish, Negro, and Mohawk Indian blood". Her mother, Ann Oliver, was a banjo player and had been in Primrose and West minstrel shows (Smith also had two cousins who were dancers in the shows, Etta and John Bloom). According to Ida, "Frank Bertholoff was a light-skinned playboy who loved his liquor, girls, and gambling." His mother threw Frank out of the house when "The Lion" was two years old. When his father died in 1901, his mother married John Smith, a master mechanic from Paterson, NJ. The surname Smith was added to that of "The Lion" at age 3. He grew up living at 76 Academy Street in Newark. John Smith worked for C.M. Bailey, Pork Packers, and he would leave the house around midnight to pick up the freshly killed pigs and bring them to the packing house. He was supposed to be home by 4 A.M., but would usually go to bars. Eventually, Willie's mother wanted him to accompany his stepfather to work to hopefully ensure that John Smith would come straight home and not go drinking. Willie said he actually enjoyed his job, but most of the time he would have to drive the horses home. He also could only work on Fridays and Saturdays, as his mother did not want him to miss school. He wrote about the experience of being at the slaughterhouse with his stepfather: I couldn't stand to see what I saw at the slaughterhouse. I would watch wide-eyed as the squealing pigs slid down the iron rails to the cutter where they were slashed through the middle, with the two halves falling into a tank of hot water. The kill sometimes went to as many as four hundred pigs a night. It was a sickening sight to watch. But the cries from the pigs brought forth an emotional excitement. It was another weird but musical sound that I can still hear in my head. The squeaks, the squeals, the dipping them in hot water, they put them on a hook, take off the head, the legs, going down an aisle—I hear it on an oboe. That's what you hear in a symphony: destruction, war, peace, beauty, all mixed. In 1907, the family moved to 90 Bloome Street in Newark, but moved again around 1912. His stepfather got a new job at Crucible Steel Company, across the Passaic River in Harrison, New Jersey. The job paid more, and Willie would have to get him before his bosses got him drunk on his own money. He attended the Baxter School, rumored to be a school for bad children. The school was notorious for brawls between Irish, Italian, and African-American children. Willie was in Mrs. Black's fruit store and was caught with his hand in her register. According to Smith's memoirs, he had wanted to borrow a dime to see S.H. Dudley's traveling road show at Blaney's Theater. The thing that shocked Willie the most was the fact that she turned him over to the police. Mrs. Black's son-in-law was the number three tough guy in Newark, and their whole family hated policemen and wouldn't allow them into their store. Willie later wrote, "But they sure didn't mind turning over a 10 year old boy to the police." He went to children's court and was sentenced to a ten dollar fine and probation. After that incident, he was transferred to Morton School, and began sixth grade at his new school (which had a lot less brawling). He would go onto attend Barringer High School (then known as Newark High School). In an effort to get the attention of the ladies, he attempted sports including swimming, skating, track, basketball, sledding, cycling, and boxing. He learned to swim in the Morris Canal. Prizefighting was the sport he was most interested in. Willie says that "maybe that because I've known most of the great fighters from way back. They liked to visit the night clubs...". He got to kid around with Jack Johnson, Jack Dempsey, Battling Siki, Kid Chocolate, Sam Langford, Joe Gans, Bob Fitzsimmons, Harry Greb, Joe Louis, and Gene Tunney. Fitzsimmons owned a saloon on Market Street in Newark, and that is where While learned about Stanley Ketchel, Kid McCoy, Benny Leonard, Jimmy Britt, and Charlie Warner. Willie also belonged to a gang, and the gang had a club called The Ramblers (two famous members were Abner Zwillman and Niggy Rutman). Willie was one of two colored men in the gang, the other being Louis Moss, who Willie referred to as a "sweet talker, who could take his foes apart". Moss later became known as "Big Sue" and owned a saloon in Tenderloin, Manhattan. Moss was his own bouncer at his club (according to Willie, Moss was 6'4" and about 240 pounds). Willie says he used to help him out by playing piano in his back room. When Willie was about six, he went downstairs to the basement of his Academy Street home and found the organ his mother used to play. It was not in good shape, and nearly half of the keys were missing. After his mother discovered his interest in the instrument, she taught him the melodies she knew. One of the first songs he learned was Home! Sweet Home!. His uncle Rob, who was a bass singer and ran his own quartet, would teach Willie how to dance. Willie entered an amateur dance contest at the Arcadia Theater and won first place and the prize, ten dollars. After that, he focused more on playing music at the clubs. Willie had wanted a new piano very badly, but every time he thought his mother was able to afford it, there was a new mouth to feed. Willie got a job at Hauseman's Footwear store shining shoes and running errands, where he was paid five dollars a week. "Old Man" Hauseman paid that much because he liked the fact that Willie could speak Hebrew and also because Willie wanted to buy a piano with the money. As it turned out, Marshall & Wendell's was holding a contest: the object was to guess how many dots there were in a printed circle in their newspaper advertisement. Willie used arithmetic to help guess the number, and the upright piano was delivered the next day. From that day forth, he sat down at the piano and played. He would play songs he heard in the clubs, including Maple Leaf Rag by Scott Joplin, Cannonball Rag by Joe Northrup, Black and White Rag by George Botsford, and Don't Hit that Lady Dressed in Green, about which he said "the lyrics to this song were a sex education, especially for a twelve year old boy.". His other favorites picked up from the saloons were She's Got Good Booty and Baby, Let Your Drawers Hang Low. By the early 1910s he was playing in New York City and Atlantic City, New Jersey. Smith served in World War I, where he saw action in France, and played drum with the African-American regimental band led by Tim Brymn. He also played basketball with the regimental team. Legend has it that his nickname "The Lion" came from his reported bravery while serving as a heavy artillery gunner. He was a decorated veteran of the 350th Field Artillery. Around 1915, he married Blanche Merrill (née Howard), a song writer and lyricist who wrote a number of songs and lyrics for Broadway shows from about 1912 to 1925, particularly for Fanny Brice. Smith and Merrill are thought to have separated before Smith joined the army in 1917, serving as a corporal (he claimed sergeant was his rank), but were still living together in Newark, New Jersey at the time of the 1920 census. Merrill was white and Smith was the only black man living in their apartment building at the time. He returned to working in Harlem clubs and in rent parties, where Smith and his contemporaries James P. Johnson and Fats Waller developed a new, more sophisticated piano style later called “stride.”[6] also after the war, where he worked for decades, often as a soloist, sometimes in bands and accompanying blues singers such as Mamie Smith. Although working in relative obscurity, he was a "musician's musician", influencing countless others including Duke Ellington, George Gershwin, and Artie Shaw. In the 1940s his music found appreciation with a wider audience, and he toured North America and Europe up to 1971. To leave the US, he needed a birth certificate. He went to the Orange County Courthouse and found it, but discovered that the birth certificate said he was born on November 25, in contradiction to his mother telling him he was born on November 23. Willie "The Lion" Smith died in New York City. His autobiography, Music on My Mind, The Memoirs Of An American Pianist, written with the assistance of George Hoefer, was published by Doubleday and Company in 1964. It included a generous foreword written by Duke Ellington. It also includes a comprehensive list of his compositions and a discography. His students included such notable names as Mel Powell, Brooks Kerr, and Mike Lipskin. With the latter, he made two albums: a two-LP set of playing and reminiscences, The Memoirs of Willie the Lion Smith, done in 1965, and an album of solos and duets from 1971: California Here I Come, which coincided with Mike's relocation from New York to Marin County. He was present during the taking of the famous jazz photograph A Great Day in Harlem in 1958. However, he famously was sitting down resting when the selected shot was taken, leaving him out of the final picture. This is discussed in depth in Jean Bach's award-winning 1994 documentary on the history of this photo, released on DVD. Willie Smith had 10 brothers and a sister (including half-siblings). His older brother Jerome died at the age of 15. His other older brother, George, became an officer in Atlantic City, and died in 1946. Willie said of George, "Our paths didn't cross very often in later life. His friends and connections were always on the other side of the fence from mine." His half-brother Robert owned a bar on West Street in Newark. His half-brother Melvin lived on Mulberry Street in Manhattan. Smith had no idea what became of his other two half-brothers, Norman and Ralph. All of the other siblings lived to the ages of 3 to 7. According to Smith, Frank Bertholoff, his birth father was Jewish. As a boy, he delivered clean clothes to his mother's clients, including to a prosperous Jewish family who invited him to sit in on Hebrew lessons on Saturday mornings. Willie was bar-mitzvahed in Newark at age thirteen, and later in life worked as a Hebrew cantor for a Black Jewish congregation in Harlem. Willie the Lion Smith lived long enough to be considered a walking legend. In his later years he received frequent honors for his life's work including a Willie "The Lion" Smith Day in Newark, New Jersey. Perhaps the greatest evidence of the Lion's greatness were the words of praise and respect he received from his peers. Smith died at the age of 79, April 18, 1973, in New York, the city he had called home for most of his life. The liner notes his 1958 LP The Legend of Willie "The Lion" Smith (Grand Awards Records GA 33-368) state: "Duke Ellington has never lost his awe of the Lion's prowess." It quotes Ellington as saying, "Willie The Lion was the greatest influence of all the great jazz piano players who have come along. He has a beat that stays in the mind." This LP is also noted for its album cover, featuring a painting of the Lion by Tracy Sugarman. Ellington demonstrated his admiration when composing and recording the highly regarded "Portrait of the Lion" in 1939. Orange County (NY) Executive Edward Diana issued a proclamation declaring September 18 Willie "The Lion" Smith Day in Orange County, the date of the first Goshen Jazz Festival. On January 10, 1939, Smith recorded 14 piano solos for Commodore Records, including eight of his own compositions: "Morning Air" "Echoes of Spring" "Concentrating" "Fading Star" "Passionette" "Rippling Waters" "Sneakaway" "Fingerbuster" and six standards: "What Is There to Say?" "Between The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea" "The Boy In The Boat (Squeeze Me)" "Tea For Two" "I'll Follow You" "Stormy Weather" While he made many other recordings from 1925 until the time of his death, this session is often cited by fans and critics as his masterwork ("the high points of his career," All Music Guide to Jazz, 2002 edition p. 1181). A sampling of Smith's recorded output, from 1925–1953 (approximately five CDs; out-of-print as of 2010), was issued by the French label Chronogical Classics. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.